Toy top

ABSTRACT

A top which can facilitate the coupling of a winder is provided. The toy top comprises: a blade; a shaft of which one end is fixed to a lower portion of the blade; a pinion to be inserted and coupled to the middle of the shaft; and a shaft holder capable of accommodating the pinion-coupled shaft in a rotating manner, wherein the shaft holder comprises winder connectors (for rotating the pinion. Particularly, the winder connectors comprise: a cut portion for contacting a part of a first portion of a winder on a lateral side; and a guide groove for allowing a second portion extended from the first portion of the winder to be stopped at stepped protrusions inside the cut portion so as to prevent the second portion from being separated from the lateral side when a part of the first portion of the winder is contacted to a lateral side and then the winder is moved to the lateral side.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/377,145, filed on Aug. 6, 2014, which is a National Stage ofInternational Application No. PCT/KR2013/001302, filed Feb. 20, 2013 andpublished as WO2013/125834 A1 on Aug. 29, 2013, which claims the benefitof Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0016874, filed on Feb. 20,2012, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a toy top, and more particularly, to atoy top which can facilitate the coupling to a winder used to spin thetop.

BACKGROUND

Generally, a top is a kind of a rotation amusement mechanism using itsinertia, and the configuration of the top is disclosed in Korean PatentNo. 1051847 issued to this inventor.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional toy top 100 includes a blade110, a shaft 123 fixed to the lower portion of the blade 110 at one endthereof, a pinion 122 fitted to the intermediate portion of the shaft123, and a shaft holder 120 adapted to allow the shaft 123 to which thepinion 122 is fitted to be rotatably accommodated thereinto.

The shaft holder 120 includes a pinion housing 124 adapted to surroundthe pinion 122, a handle 127 disposed on the underside of the pinionhousing 124 to support the lower end periphery of the shaft 123, and arotary tip 126 disposed on the underside of the handle 127.

Bearings 28 a and 28 b are disposed on the pinion housing 124 and thehandle 127 to make the shaft 123 gently rotate.

The pinion housing 124 has winder insertion holes 124 a formedsymmetrically to each other on both sides thereof so as to rotate thepinion 122 fitted to the shaft 123 in a clockwise or counterclockwisedirection.

In the state wherein the handle 127 of the shaft holder 120 is held by auser's one hand, a winder 16 on which a rack gear portion 16 a adaptedto be engaged with the pinion 122 is formed is inserted into one sidewinder insertion hole 124 a, and if the winder 16 is pulled by the otherhand of the user and drawn from the winder insertion hole 124 a, theblade 110 rotates. If the handle 127 is put on the floor in the statewhere the rotary force is applied to the blade 110, the top 100 becomesspin.

Under the above mentioned configuration of the conventional top 100, thewinder insertion holes 124 a are formed to insert the winder 16thereinto, thus making it inconvenient to insert the winder 16thereinto, and the rotary force is unnecessarily applied to the blade110 when the winder 16 pushes up to a position where the winder 16 canpull after the insertion of the winder 16.

Further, the time needed to insert the winder 16 into the selectedwinder insertion hole 124 a becomes disadvantageously extended.

DISCLOSURE

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of theabove-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an objectof the present invention to provide a toy top that is capable of beingrapidly coupled to a winder.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy top thatcan allow a winder just to come into contact with the lateral surfacethereof and to pull inside any one of winder connectors, thus easilytransmitting rotary power thereto, without having any insertion of thewinder into any one of winder insertion holes.

To accomplish the above-mentioned objects, according to the presentinvention, there is provided a toy top including: a blade; a shaft fixedto the lower portion of the blade at one end thereof; a pinion fitted tothe intermediate portion of the shaft; a shaft holder configured toallow the shaft to which the pinion is fitted to be rotatablyaccommodated thereinto; and winder connectors formed on both sides ofthe shaft holder to rotate the pinion.

According to the present invention, preferably, each winder connectorincludes: a cut portion adapted to allow a first portion of a winder topartially come into contact with the lateral side thereof; and a guidegroove adapted to allow a second portion extended from the first portionof the winder to be locked onto stepped protrusions formed from the cutportion so as to prevent the second portion from being escaped from thelateral side thereof when the winder is moved to one side thereof in thestate wherein the first portion of the winder partially comes intocontact with the lateral side thereof.

According to the present invention, preferably, the first portion of thewinder somewhat pulls to the inside of the cut portion of the winderconnector in the state of being contacted with the cut portion, withouthaving any fitting of the winder to the winder connector, so that thesecond portion on which the rack gear is formed is simply coupled to theguide groove of the selected winder connector.

According to the present invention, preferably, the first portion of thewinder includes a first support rod having a lower thickness than thewidth of the cut portion of each winder connector and wings adapted tocome into contact with both sides of the external surface of the cutportion, and the second portion of the winder includes a second supportrod extended linearly from the first support rod and a rack gear havinga higher thickness than the second support rod, the rack gear beingformed in the opposite direction to the portion where the wings of thefirst portion are formed in such a manner as to be engaged with thepinion.

According to the present invention, preferably, the rack gear is lockedon the stepped protrusions formed on the inner sides of the cut portionto prevent the second portion of the winder from being escaped from thelateral side of the winder connector.

According to the present invention, the toy top is configured whereinthe first portion of the winder somewhat pulls to the inside of the cutportion of the winder connector in the state of being contacted with thecut portion, without having any fitting of the winder to the winderconnector, and accordingly, the second portion on which the rack gear isformed is simply coupled to the guide groove of the winder connector,without any escape from the guide groove, thus avoiding theinconvenience caused by fitting the winder to the winder connector andpreventing the rotary power from being unnecessarily applied to theblade when the winder is fitted.

Further, the toy top according to the present invention can transmit therotary power to the blade at a rapider speed than the conventional top.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a conventional toy top.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the conventional toy top into whicha winder is inserted.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a toy top according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the toy top of the presentinvention from which a blade is separated.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a winder in the toy top according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 is a rear view showing the winder in the toy top according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the state wherein a second portion ofthe winder on which a rack gear is formed is coupled to a winderconnector in the toy top according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the state wherein the secondportion of the winder on which the rack gear is formed is coupled to thewinder connector in the toy top according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the state of the toy top justbefore the winder comes into contact with the winder connector in thetoy top according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Hereinafter, an explanation on the configuration and operational effectsof a toy top according to the present invention will be in detail givenwith reference to the attached drawing.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a toy top 200 according to the presentinvention includes a blade 210, a shaft 223 fixed to the lower portionof the blade 210 at one end thereof, and a pinion 222 fitted to theintermediate portion of the shaft 223.

The shaft 223 may be angular in section on the top end thereof or have aslip prevention stripe pattern formed thereon so as to be firmly fixedto the fixing portion of the blade 210, without idling.

A shaft holder 220 is disposed under the blade 210 to allow the shaft223 to which the pinion 222 is fitted to be rotatably accommodatedthereinto.

The shaft holder 220 includes a pinion housing 224 adapted to surroundthe pinion 222, a handle 227 disposed on the underside of the pinionhousing 224 to support the lower end periphery of the shaft 223, and arotary tip 226 disposed on the underside of the handle 227.

The parts of the shaft holder 220 are formed unitarily with each otherby means of plastic injection, as shown in FIG. 5. Bearings (not shown)are disposed on the pinion housing 224 and the handle 227 to make theshaft 223 gently rotate.

Winder connectors 224 a and 224 b are formed symmetrically to each otheron both sides of the pinion housing 224 so as to rotate the pinion 222.

In more detail, the pinion housing 224 has the winder connectors 224 aand 224 b formed symmetrically to each other on both sides thereof so asto rotate the pinion 222 fitted to the shaft 223 in a clockwise orcounterclockwise direction.

Each of the winder connectors 224 a and 224 b includes a slit type cutportion 33 open on the lateral side thereof and a guide groove 34 formedinside the cut portion 33 through which a rack gear of a winder 116 aswill be discussed later is passed. The cut portion 33 has steppedprotrusions 33 a and 33 b formed protrudingly from the top and bottomportions thereof, and in this case, a width d2 of the guide groove 34 islarger than a width d1 between the stepped protrusions 33 a and 33 b.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 10, the winder 116, whichis coupled to any one side winder connector, includes a first portionand a second portion. The first portion includes a first support rod 115having a lower thickness than the width d1 of the cut portion 33 of eachwinder connector and wings 115 a and 115 b protruding in a wing shapefrom both side of the first support rod 115, and the second portionincludes a second support rod 215 extended linearly from the firstsupport rod 115 and a rack gear 216 having a higher thickness than thesecond support rod 215.

Particularly, the rack gear 216 is formed in the opposite direction tothe portion where the wings 115 a and 115 b of the first portion areformed in such a manner as to be engaged with the pinion 222. The widthof the rack gear 215 is larger than the width d1 of the cut portion 33and smaller than the width d2 of the guide groove 34. Further, a handle80 is formed on the outside of the first portion of the winder 116.

Under the above configuration of the winder connectors 224 a and 224 band the winder 116, if the first support rod 115 of the winder 116 comesinto contact with one side cut portion 33 selected, only the firstsupport rod 115 is fitted to the cut portion 33 in the state where thewings 115 a and 115 b are locked onto the external surfaces of the cutportion 33. In this state, if the handle 80 is somewhat moved, as shownin FIG. 8, the rack gear 216 formed on one surface of the second supportrod 215 is locked onto the stepped protrusions 33 a and 33 b of the cutportion 33 and induced to the interior of the guide groove 34, withoutany escape from the lateral side of the winder connector. Of course, thefirst support rod 115 and the second support rod 215 have the samelinear shape as each other in such a manner as to be passed into thewidth dl of the cut portion 33.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the direction and position of thewinder 116 are determined so as to allow the winder 116 to come intocontact with one side winder connector 224 b, and after that, if thewinder 116 is moved to the winder connector 224 b until the rack gear216 of the second portion is locked onto the stepped protrusions 33 aand 33 b of the cut portion 33 and induced to the interior of the guidegroove 34 in the state wherein the first portion of the winder 116 comesinto contact with the cut portion 33, the coupling of the winder 116 tothe winder connector 224 b is simply completed. If the handle 80 pullsin the state wherein the coupling of the winder 116 has been finished,rotary power is transmitted to the pinion 222.

If the toy top 200 is put on the floor in the state wherein the blade210 is rotated by the rotary force applied to the pinion 222, it isrotated by means of the centrifugal force generated from the rotatingblade 210.

According to the present invention, the toy top has a structure whereinthe coupling to the winder can be easily achieved.

While the present invention has been described with reference to theparticular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by theembodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciatedthat those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodimentswithout departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

1. A toy top comprising: a blade; a shaft fixed to a lower portion ofthe blade at one end thereof; a pinion fitted to be coupled to anintermediate portion of the shaft; a shaft holder configured torotatably accommodate the shaft, to which the pinion is fitted,thereinto; and a winder connector formed to be opened by incising a sidesurface of the shaft holder along a horizontal direction thereof suchthat a part of a winder, which is engaged with the pinion, is coupled tothe winder connector from a side surface of the toy top.
 2. The toy topaccording to claim 1, wherein the winder connector is additionallyprovided with a guide groove in a stepped shape so as to prevent thewinder from separating from the shaft holder while a remaining portionof the winder, which is coupled to the side surface of the shaft holder,moves in the horizontal direction on the shaft holder.